


Wicked Boys

by Maxilme



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Southern Gothic, Canon-Typical Violence, DON'T BE FOOLED, Hux is Not Nice, I honestly have no idea where this awful idea came from but, I’m glad other people are on the southern gothic train, Kinda, Kylux - Freeform, Love/Hate, M/M, Mild Horror, Slow Burn, Sorcerer!Kylo, Witches, but he's not awful, here it is, snoke is not as nice as he seems to be, whoot whoot all aboard first stop hell, witch au??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-06-10 16:49:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6965089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maxilme/pseuds/Maxilme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kylo's life has been a series of hellish school years, fights and unexplained forces at work around him. He moves to his distant relatives Snoke’s house in Georgia after a turbulent relationship with his parents and a fight to end all fights. When he gets there he realizes that his family is not all that it seems, secrets are pressed into the walls of the old Antebellum houses and the man with red hair is going to be the end of him. That is, if the sorcery of his family does not kill him first. (AKA. Kylo is a sorcerer, Hux is evil and everything is creepy.) -Hiatus indefinitely-</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Monster Child

**Author's Note:**

> Ha. Haha so I fell in the dumpster. Again. Anyway, I really liked the Southern Gothic fics in this fandom and since I've always liked elements of sogo I wanted to try my hand. As much as I adore Monster!Kylo, southern elements have always reminded me of witches so... that's what y'all are getting. Also, the rating may go up toward the last chapters, idk yet, I'll add tags as I go.

Kylo rubbed his hand across his eyes as he looked at the winding road in front of him. It had been almost 7 hours in the car and he was beginning to see double. The sun had sunken to the horizon,  it caught on the trees hung with Spanish moss and glinted on houses that were made with a definite southern flare. 

He never thought he would end up in Georgia of all places. The deep south was not on his list of potential living areas until Snoke offered him a way out of his house and away from his parents. Kylo would have moved to Alaska if it meant escaping the constant accusing stares and hushed whispers of his family. Being the disappointment was a draining job and after several years of it he decided that a break was in order. He felt like a stranger in his own home and he needed to leave before he ended up snapping under the constant scrutiny. Not that he hadn’t already

When the summer was fast approaching Kylo didn’t know what he was going to do. His mother often asked him and he would respond with a droll, “I don’t know, maybe live up to your expectations of me going to jail”, sadly his humor was lost on his mother. In all honesty, more time spent at home would destroy him and he couldn’t work all the time. 

The people in his home town hated him anyway and he doubted he would find a job, after the fight at school people tended to treat him like a murderer or a pitiful child, sometimes they treated him like he was both. Contrary to popular belief he hadn’t murdered anyone, but his fighting was legendary. He hadn’t always been the monster of Republic High but somewhere along the road something had grown dark inside the young boy and his anger grew and grew. He became sullen and constantly on edge and no amount of coaxing from his mother would make him explain himself, not that his mother actually tried to help him all that often. Even for a young boy he could see his parents had given up on him and the only sympathy he got was to alleviate their own guilt at how their child had turned out. 

In reality, it all fell apart when he entered high school. His parents, who had never worked well together anyway, were fighting. Han never being around and spending more time on the road than at home made his mother Leia almost always irritable. Not that it was at all ironic when she herself didn’t come home till one most nights and worked herself ragged as a political figure. Kylo, or rather young Ben at the time, had been left to eat dinner alone, go to track and swim meets by himself, and provide himself with all the comfort he could as a young teen. 

In the end, he couldn’t do it. Sometimes he had blamed himself for his loneliness but it quickly transformed into a rage that took over his head and heart and ate him whole. Two weeks into his freshman year someone started a rumor about him. Kylo could never really remember which rumor it was but soon, kids being kids, he was the target of more than a few bullies. 

_Ben Solo, ha, cool name, and it fits because you’re always alone. When are you going to get a nose job? Are you ever going to cut your hair?_

Constant harsh words made him retreat more into himself. And it had only grown worse with time. The fledging years of high school were always harsh but for Kylo they were a constant battle. He had a few friends at first, then it dwindled and he was left to himself. He turned to other forms of entertainment and when he was caught with his tongue down a football player from the opposing high school’s throat it made everything that much more intolerable. 

_Pretty face you got there, must be why men like you. Do you like being a fucking homo? You know you have cocksucking lips, right?_

It wasn’t as if the bullies had become more creative, they just had a wider range of insults to hurl at a boy who grew bitterer everyday. His soulful eye’s becoming fiery and his temper flaring. First it had started with breaking pencils. The snap and give of the wood providing him with relief enough. It had moved to larger things, his pillow, his wall, a school mirror. And eventually people. 

How could it not? Inanimate objects weren’t the things making him miserable, people were. Mocking him, his family, his clothes, mocking his very existence. 

The bullies regretted their decision to mock him. Kylo made sure of that. He simply had enough. When five boys approached him in the locker room, no doubt to pull a cruel prank, he had snapped. He didn’t remember who he hit first but he remembered the give of the bones of their face, the pain in his hands, and the rush of ecstasy. He felt powerful, he felt in control and he never wanted to give that up again. He beat most of them within an inch of their life, breaking bones and leaving scars. Everything was clouded in a haze of red and tears and he could swear he did more damage that was physically possible with fists alone. He stopped only when no one was standing then he moved onto the lockers, denting more than one with his bare fists.  When the teachers had arrived they had found Kylo, bloody, standing in the middle of a group of screaming teens. His hands had been broken and he was staring off to the side, an expression of guilt and bliss warping his features into a mask of something close to inhumane. The only sound besides cries and screams was the dripping of blood from broken knuckles and the crack of exposed bone as Kylo brought a hand up to his face. 

The kids seemed to be in shock because half of them swore he hadn’t even touched them. That some invisible thing, some strange force, had attacked them just as much as the bloody kid in front of them. They swore up and down he was a monster and the teachers seemed to believe them. Not about the strange powers, but about his personality. That the boy, who hadn’t bothered to report the abuse because he believed no one would take his side, was a monster of his own creation. 

When his parents had arrived they seemed to know more than they said. When the teachers told them how the boys had been so scared they had imagined magical powers, both his mother and father paled. Leia had asked if the principal was sure they had said such things and she had confirmed it. Kylo had sat with his head down the entire time, looking at the bandages on his hands and reveling in the ache of to all. When they got up to leave Leia’s hand hesitated before coming down on his shoulder and he felt her fear, the shake in her arm, and Han staring straight ahead. On the way to the hospital all his mother could do was scold him, voice shaking, _“How could you hurt such nice boys?”._

Kylo was so used to no one believing him he didn’t try to explain himself, he simply shrugged and looked out the window. His bleeding hands wrapped in his lap like a benediction, like an albatross. He didn’t even feel them now but he wished he could. He wished he could feel the pain again.

All four years of high school passed as such, with people taunting him into a rage or avoiding him like the plague. It was like the students had all become one entity with one opinion, the opinion being that there was a monster in the back of the classroom, done up with dark jeans and a hoodie. 

Mid-year as a junior Kylo switched schools, changed his name and tried to be better, but rumors spread and no one can really escape the past. He got in his first fight and spiraled from there. His excessive rage was only complimented by his excessive guilt which seemed to curl into his very soul and make him a mess of contradictions and sadness. 

The summation of his young life had led to this. This road and this moment in time. Driving to a distant relatives house because everyone loathed him. Kylo’s eyes flickered to the speedometer and slowed the car, lost in memories, he had sped through most of the road double the speed limits. He relaxed his hands, scarred from the fights over the years and stiff from breaks that never quiet healed right. No need for a ticket on his first day in the state, though he pitied the cop who would have to deal with him. 

He looked at the directions once more before turning onto a road draped in moss and gnarled trees, the sky blotted out completely by the foliage. The dark road seemed to trap the shade and carved out an incredibly distinct visage of something old and foreboding. Kylo turned down another road, and stopped, staring at the house in front of him. It was a massive Antebellum style house. With graying pillars and ivy creeping up the sides like fingers reaching from the ground. The gate to the front was wreathed in even more ivy and was pushed open, most likely for his arrival. The house was backed up to the encroaching forest and a path ran diagonally from the back porch, slightly visible from the front, to a gate. Behind that iron gate seemed to be a cemetery, half inside the forest, half not. 

“You’re shitting me,” Kylo said, his voice holding a faux shock, he’d expected as much from his relative. Kylo started driving forward again, pulling his car into the front. He pressed his hand to his eyes before rubbing his temples and trying to chase away the weariness. He quickly checked his reflection and his expression was flat. His hair was lank because of the long car ride and his shirt, a plain black v-neck, was wrinkled beyond help. His distressed jeans and clunky boots endeared him no more than his haggard face and he knew Snoke would disapprove. With a sigh he opened the door and stood from the car catching his hand on the roof and balancing himself. 

“Kylo,” Came a distinct voice and he looked up to see Snoke. The man never seemed to change. He was imposing as ever as he walked forward but more from his personality than his body. He had apparently been in an accident when he was younger and his face was slightly warped, seeming burned in places. It had never bothered Kylo, to the contrary, as a child Kylo thought Snoke looked cool.   

“Uncle Snoke,” Kylo said, his voice a happier pitch and walking around the car before firmly shaking the mans hand. Never in his life could he imagine Snoke hugging another human being. The man shook hands and sometimes graced people with a smirk and that was all. This had made a younger Kylo sad and now he was only glad that the man did not give out hugs as freely as Uncle Luke or Chewie. 

“I’m glad you made it. I assume the drive was not terrible,” The man said and Kylo shook his head. 

Uncle Snoke, though he wasn’t actually that close of a relative and the title was more for simplicities sake, had always been one of Kylo’s favorite people. Mostly because his mother and father openly disliked him. They had forced Kylo to go to Uncle Luke’s house most summers instead of Snoke’s and when he did see Snoke it was only when he came up to visit. He had really connected with Snoke when the man recommended boxing for the young boy. Leia had been staunchly against it but after many days of a begging child allowed for it. It was one of Kylo’s great joys in life and he was sure his mother somewhere blamed Snoke for making him as violent as he was. In honesty, the blame was misplaced, Kylo often realized he had always been a monster. In the end, Snoke was interesting and told stories that entranced the young boy. Stories of their family and his grandfather. He went into how the Skywalker family had fled to America with accusations of witchcraft hot on their heels. How Anakin, his grandfather, had revived the old practice in the town, where Snoke lived, before his death. 

Leia had always cut in at that point, explaining that Anakin Skywalker was a dangerous man who was the leader of a cult. That he was not someone to look up to or idolize. 

Kylo hadn’t cared. The idea of magic and dark powers had entrapped him and Snoke was all too happy to feed his young mind with horror stories and tales of the witches, or rather the _sorcerers_ , of the Skywalker line. 

The last time Kylo had seen Snoke, which was just before his 15th birthday, Snoke had given him an amulet with a deep black core. It looked like a small sword with an equally dark cross guard. He had worn the amulet everyday under his shirt since he received it. 

Looking at Snoke now, Kylo felt an overwhelming sense of loyalty to the man. The man who had actually payed attention to him and explained card tricks and sat with his dark eyes glittering to tell him stories. It wasn’t a pure emotion, it was something born of loneliness and the shear will to impose feelings of acceptance onto anyone who would entertain them for him. 

“The drive wasn’t bad at all. Relaxing actually,” Kylo said, though snapping back to the present. 

“Wonderful. I’m really am so thankful that you agreed to housesit for the summer. I normally hire someone but this year no one was available,” Snoke explained, his voice a deep baritone and Kylo nodded seriously. 

“Anything to help. I’m benefitting from this as well since I can avoid my parents for the summer,” Kylo admitted and Snoke tilted his head with a knowing smirk. 

“How did I know. Very well, get your bags and I’ll show you to your room. The tour will be left for tomorrow as I'm sure you’re exhausted from the drive.” 

Kylo nodded and went to the back of his car, pulling out two duffle bags and slinging one over his shoulder. He had become tall and strong over the years and it took him a moment to realize he was now taller than Snoke. As a child he always imagined Snoke as a giant, sitting in the enormous chair by the fire place and handing down advice and stories like some God. Now, the chair was normal sized and Snoke was a few inches shorter and he could only wonder at the constant progress of time. The constant progress of who he was becoming. He didn’t like the thought almost as much as he didn’t like himself.

The steps up to the front door were covered with peeling paint and ivy, more like a carpet than actual boards or wood. He looked at the front and paused. There were double doors, with large knockers that gleamed silver that were delicately etched. Along the step of the door there were more silver markings. The door seemed alive and had the feeling of an electric wire too close to water, though it was an inane thought because the door was most certainly wood. Kylo reached out with a hand, his fingers stiff and the knocker shocked him upon contact. Kylo yanked his hand back and stared with confusion at the door. Snoke muttered something under his breath and then put a hand on Kylo’s shoulder. 

“Static normally isn’t a problem here, try again.”

Kylo looked at Snoke with a raised brow and pushed the door once more, the door swung open on oiled hinges and Kylo walked over the threshold. The house was silent, with polished floors and a large double staircase. He craned his head back to see the full extent of the ceiling and was surprised to see the fixtures  were fitted with real gas lights in them. They weren’t on and looking around Kylo had no idea how one would go about turning them on but the effect was something that enthralled him. 

At that moment Snoke received a call on his phone, breaking the quiet in the house and causing jump in his shoulders.  Kylo turned in time to see him looking at the caller I.D.

“I have to take this. Your room is up the stairs and to the left at the very end of the hall, there’s also food in the kitchen if you’d like to avail yourself of that. I’ll show you around tomorrow. Goodnight Kylo,” Snoke excused himself and quickly walked toward what Kylo could only imagine was the study. 

Kylo walked up the stairs, passive eyes scan over the artwork and decor. It was all done in black and grey, with brilliant reds appearing and disappearing at random intervals throughout the house. It was like nothing the young man had ever seen and he felt a sense of rightness. 

The room he was put in was like something out of a movie, which made Kylo a little hesitant to touch anything, a feeling he was not accustomed to. The room was done in soft dove grays, the carpet and walls two varying shades. There was a bed set into what was, most likely, originally a window seat so the sleeper could turn and be face to face with a large glass window overlooking the entire side of the property including the forest. The other wall was dominated by large french doors that opened onto a balcony overlooking the back of the house. It had a view of the gated cemetery and was connected to the ground by ivy covered trellises. 

Kylo placed his bags by the door before looking at the teams in the room. There was a large dresser, and a desk set into a corner of the room. He walked over to the one wall away from both windows and saw a door that blended into the paint. He opened the door and blinked at what he saw. It was a large bathroom, with blindingly white tile floors. There was a claw foot tub set in the side of the room and it looked strangely big, a glass shower was tucked behind that and a sink was set into a large counter. Along the many glass shelves were terrariums and at each window hung bundles of herbs. It was a strange bathroom but a beautiful one. 

With a quick step backwards Kylo wandered back to his bag and pulled out a change of clothes and his toiletries before stuffing his bags beside the dresser. 

His eyes glanced to the window and he saw a flash of red outside, the last of the sunlight, the very edges of the rays, had caught on something. Kylo walked over, putting down his things, and opened the door to the balcony, stepping into the humid southern air and looking down. There was no one there, just the imposing iron gates to the graveyard and a forest that rocked slowly back and forth with a mild breeze. The expanse of wild trees and grass was even more impressive from this hight and everything had taken on the beautiful twilight hue that the south was famous for. Even something as disquieting as a cemetery seemed ethereal and calm, something to look at with a sigh rather than a hurried look of fear. The wind rustled Kylo’s hair and he drew in a breath, pushing the wayward strands from his face. He rested his elbows against the banister and hummed to himself, dark eyes flickering to the forest edge. There, again, he saw the flash of red and he straightened, squinting. 

It had been faint, something of a blur and perhaps nothing at all, but Kylo thought he saw a figure fade into the woods, between two large oaks. He wondered if Snoke shared the property with neighbors and if he had just seen one of them. The man, he thought it was a man because of the obvious height of the red blur, must have had stunning red hair. He leaned further to see if he could catch even the briefest glimpse of the blurry figure before giving up and shaking his head. 

He walked back into the bathroom, picking up his change of clothes and shampoo on the way. Kylo bypassed the tub, saving its use for another time, and turned on the shower, watching the spray slowly begin to steam when it touched the cool tile.

He stripped before jumping in and letting the hot water wash over him. A balm to someone who had traveled in the car for so long. His shoulders drooped under the warm spray and he rolled his head back so he could have the hair off his face. He felt better under the warm water than he had in a long time and some of the weight he had accumulated over the past months dissipated. The nagging at the back of his mind quieted and for once he was allowed some peace as he leaned his shoulder into the side of the stall.

This was a new life, a new chance. He could start over here for the summer and transfer to a college down in Georgia if he felt he wanted to stay, he hadn’t locked in any of his choices yet, he hadn’t decided anything. He felt secure in the fact that he could make this new life work and placed his forehead to the cold tile wall in front of him. Some twisted part of him realized that at this point he didn’t have much of a choice, he had to make this work. He had to or he would be drowned in the growing darkness just as surely as the rays of the sun had.


	2. Pretty Boy

Kylo rose early in the morning, breathing heavily, eyes flashing, just before the sun. He didn’t understand the mess of red dyed nightmares but they plagued him nonetheless. Always leaving a lingering sense of discord in him like a gargoyle taking roost in his chest. He sat there for a few seconds before growling and grabbing the first thing he could find, his wallet set on the beside table, and threw it across the room. The sound of it hitting the with a dull thunk provided no comfort and Kylo let out a half yell in rage. It was suppose to be different here and yet the dreams and voices and guilt ate at him still. 

When his hands had stopped shaking he set about unpacking. He had to drag his body from the bed more than anything else and look around at the mess he had already caused just in the time he’d been here. Kylo was not an organized person but if he was staying for three months he knew that leaving his things packed and simply yanking them from the suitcase was not a luxury he could afford. He also would have been lying to himself if he said he didn’t need the extra distraction of having something to do as the sun rose.

He tossed his shirts and pants into various drawers and tried to make it look organized but all it really did was make the chaos look planned and haphazard. His brows furrowed and he wondered how his mother always managed to make things neat before brushing the thought away. He could learn, he didn’t need someone to tell him. 

When he had tried, and failed, to settle himself he got dressed, brushed his teeth and ran a brush through his hair. It had dried into wild curls with more volume than he could handle and debated tying it back before giving up on the notion. He slicked his hands with water and ran them through the dark mess before walking back into the room, changing into jeans and another simple black v-neck. His mother had often criticized his lack of interest in looking anything close to decent, it had always been black or dark grays throughout high school. Kylo didn’t have wherewithal to explain to Leia that he was already mocked for his appearance and that dressing badly, as he really had no sense of style, would only compound the torment. Black matched black, jeans never went out of style and that was the extent of his fashionable knowledge.  

Kylo made him way downstairs and walked toward what seemed to be the kitchen. Snoke was standing over a book, seemingly in the middle of reading something important, and Kylo tucked himself into a small chair to the side, not wanting to disturb his faux-uncle. 

“I can hear you thinking,” The man said after a few minutes, turning the good side of his face toward the dark man tucked into the corner of the room. Kylo lifted his shoulders in an quiet apology and looked out the window, ever present scowl seeming more severe than normal. 

“Would you like something to eat?” Snoke questioned, turning around completely and fixing Kylo with a stare that made him squirm in his seat. 

“I… I’m not hungry,” He said, hoping that was enough of an answer. 

“Very well, come help me store some books and dry some herbs before I leave,” Snoke said and Kylo stood quickly, happy to have been given a job. 

Snoke gave him a quick overview of the house before leading him towards the back. Kylo noticed the large porch, that had a nice view of the property, was netted with fine mosquito netting that seemed to gleam silver in the early morning light. He stared for a moment before moving on and following Snoke into a large room. It had high ceilings and every wall was lined in bookshelves that reached up to a skylight, a ladder on a rail was pushed to the side of the room and bundles of herbs hung on hooks from lower shelves while books covered the higher ones. Long tables were pushed in towards the wall and there was a large space in the middle of the floor for god knows what. 

“This is incredible,” Kylo said in a hushed whisper and Snoke gave a half smile, just a twitch of his lips really, in his direction. 

“I’m glad you appreciate this room, it took me years to make to my specifications.”

Kylo nodded and looked at the mortars and pestles laying around with a sort of fascination.  

“Is this… what you do?” Kylo asked.

“Yes, I run an apothecary and occult business from here, people who need things come to me for them. In a town such as this my services are… invaluable. Actually, that leads me to a question I’ve been meaning to ask,” Snoke turned and fixed Kylo with a stare that made him want to look away, “how would you feel about taking over for the summer?”

“The… business?” Kylo questioned, his head spinning at the idea of making sense of the mess around him. 

“I will teach you everything you need to know in the next two days. I also have… an acquaintance who would be most pleased to help you in any project that requires more than I have taught you. Formally, I would extend an apprenticeship but you are family so there’s no need menial civility.”

Kylo stared at the things around him and felt an almost unnatural need to touch and take and see. It was like a physical ache rooted somewhere close to his sternum. 

“Of course, I’d be happy to help in whatever way I can,” He finally said and something sinister flashed in Snoke’s eyes so quickly that Kylo thought he imagined it. 

“It would only be simple tasks, making things that come through the orders. All delivered by letter of course. Only small amounts and simple charms. Though I’m sure you will advance with leaps and bounds, it is the way of your family.”

“Of course, I will learn any task you see fit to teach me,” Kylo’s mouth felt strange around the formal words and he lowered his head. Snoke reached out and put a cool finger under his chin, lifting his face so their eyes met.

“I’m glad to hear it. The first step toward greatness is accepting one's role.”

Kylo nodded as far as the steadying hand would allow and Snoke dropped his arm, turning and looking over the tables around him.

“Do you still have the amulet I gave you when you were a child?”

Kylo blinked and nodded, pulling it from under his shirt. Snoke walked forward and inspected it before nodding to himself. 

“You trust me don’t you Kylo?”

“Of course,” He said, automatically, and felt pride when Snoke seemed happy with his answer. The scarred man walked over to the table and pulled forth a wickedly curved knife. It looked to be made wholly from iron and Kylo was entranced by the way the faint light caught on the blade. 

His body tensed. Involuntary, his mind raced toward what one would do with a knife such as that. His mother's warnings about Snoke flashed through his mind before he crushed them. Snoke was the only one who had ever been proud of him. In letters and person he always acted as Kylo was enough. Like he was worthy. His shoulders relaxed and he let his hands, which he clenched into fists, go slack. He would trust the man who had put trust in him.

“Prick your finger and touch the amulet,” Snoke said, ordered, and Kylo took the anthem. It was frigid to the touch, much lower than the room's temperature and his hand trembled. With a motion he went to take off the necklace and Snoke’s quick hand stopped him, gripping his wrist. 

“Leave it on.”

Looking back, Kylo didn’t understand why he did as told. He wanted to say it was some unnatural force but a truer explanation was his want to please Snoke, his want to make the man proud of him. That insecurity, that need to please, was more powerful than any magic. Not that regret was something Kylo harbored for the moment but rather a deep need to understand. Understand what drove him to be what he was. 

Kylo deftly cut his finger and watched blood bubble to the surface, it was a small but deep cut. The crimson against his blue tinged finger made his sight double slightly and look to the side. It disgusted him, though he couldn’t tell why. Blood had never disturbed him, but this, this did. With a broken breath, he let his hand drop to the amulet resting on his sternum. His hand paused a few inches from the dark thing and a flash of fear, a flash of permanence, rushed through him. The feeling that if he did this he could not go back. His hand wavered. 

“Do it,” Snoke murmured and Kylo did. His bloodied fingers landed on the pendent and smeared a small amount of blood on his shirt and there seemed to be a sudden wind that ruffled his hair before everything went deathly still. The room seemed muffled, like everything had been stuffed between wool. A syrupy consistency to the air, making the weight of the world feel impressed upon the study. He briefly wondered how Atlas had survived under such a weight. Then, with a snap, everything returned to normal. Time flickered back into place, the air became light and a expressive gasp escaped his mouth. Kylo felt a chill spread from his chest and he looked down to see that the dark amulet had swirled into a deep red. It seemed to gleam in the pale light and Kylo staggered, the air rushing into his lungs feeling unnaturally cold. 

“It is done,” Snoke said before breaking the spell and clapping him on the shoulder, “it’s a stunning color, so vibrant. Well done.”

“How did it…?” Kylo trailed off, looking at the necklace in a wide eyed stare of incredulity. 

“If you listen to me you will learn how,” Snoke answered cryptically and motioned for him to follow. They ended up at a far table and Kylo slumped into a chair, suddenly tired. 

“This town is old, older than many believe and the families here are incredibly powerful. Your blood, your birthright, is staked here. In the mud, stone and ownership ingrained into these very grounds by your grandfather. He was leader, high priest, of a coven.”

“Mom said that Anakin Skywalker just led a cult,” Kylo said, leaning forward and feeling light headed. 

“Your mother was scared of the truth. Scared of the power that you had, even as a child. How often did she compare your actions to your grandfathers? How often did she act as though you were the monster?”

Kylo’s lip curled into a snarl and Snoke leaned forward, compassion written across his scarred face. 

“She was afraid of the power you had. Afraid of your birthright.”

“She believed everyone besides me! I was always at fault! Always to blame! I was never enough, never good enough for her. If it wasn’t the fighting, it was my clothes, my hair, the way I stood. She belittled everything about me and Han was never there unless it was to judge my choices.”

“Your grandfather felt much the same about the people around him. He changed that. He made them respect him, made them realize their folly!”

“But… didn’t grandfather kill people? Wasn’t he a madman?” Kylo’s voice wavered, wondering if everything that had been told to him was a lie or just a few were truths. 

“What are a few lives before a world needing order? All powerful men have bodies in their wake but that does not mean they weren’t great. The men he struck down were like the men that belittle you, they deserved what happened to them. They stab a lion and expect it to be docile. Every revolution, every moral war, produces death. Death is an evil needed for the success of all great futures. That’s what your grandfather believed,” Snoke’s voice was melodic and Kylo felt another cold pulse from the amulet before nodding. 

Snoke, as always, was right. It was incredibly obvious now. Life meant nothing if not used to be driven toward a single purpose. His grandfather had used the life around him to accomplish a goal. He was driven. His mother didn’t know anything and her lies would never stop poisoning his mind. 

“Of course,” Kylo whispered and Snoke placed a hand, firm, on his shoulder. 

“You could be great. Greater than you already are. If you stay here, with me and learn. I can teach you so much. No one would ever think to hurt you again.”

Kylo nodded numbly. Snoke smiled, more like a bearing of teeth than anything else, and with a soft voice said, “Your grandfather would be proud.”

 

 

* * *

 

It was hours before Kylo stepped out of the room, his head spinning with the names of books he must read and the ideas of where he could go with his new knowledge. His hands twisted the necklace absentmindedly and his finger ached.

Snoke had retired to his study, telling Kylo to take the rest of the day for himself. It’s late in the afternoon by the time Kylo manages to scrape together the will to make his languid body move. He walked to the fridge and made himself a sandwich. 

The contents of the fridge were a mix of mundane and strange, with the normal food supplies all lined nicely along the shelves at the bottom. At the top there were jars and bowls filled with viscous liquids and crushed herbs suspended in orange tinted slime. He made sure not to touch anything that seemed to be unnatural despite how good some smelled. 

He placed himself on the counter and munched on his snack, his mind elsewhere and barely tasting the food on his tongue. The day had been weird and even now the feeling of being trapped inside some warped dream hadn’t left him. He didn’t know if he truly believed what Snoke was telling him. It all seemed so farfetched and the amulet could have been an act of a chemical reaction to the blood nothing, Kylo felt silly even thinking the next word, magical. He had often seen teens in his old town prancing around in long dresses and self proclaiming to be witches. He remembered that one such girl had tried to approach him, babbling some nonsense about the threefold law and his bad behavior. In all, the practice of Wicca had only served to annoy him. Of course, what Snoke was espousing was not Wicca. It was not some religion. It was not even old spell books that may contain things that may or may not work. It was power. True, real and, as much as Kylo wanted to doubt its authenticity, he could feel it. It seeped from the walls and from the man living between them. It was ingrained into the stone around them and Kylo could now feel it thrumming just below his fingers. 

He had always felt something. Something just at the edges of his soul, but never had the will to actually reach out and  _ take  _ it. Now, he didn’t have to. The power infused the air around him, his hands, his chest. Everything felt like an electric wire, vibrating, twitching and moving under his body. 

Kylo dropped his head to his chest letting his eyes drift close. Behind his lids he could make out a pink and red world and now it seemed more vibrant. 

He opened his eyes, jumped from the counter and stumbled, placing his hand on the wall so he could steady himself before grabbing a beer from the fridge. Snoke had never seemed to mind things like underage drinking, though technically Kylo was 19 and could drink at home if not at a bar. He wandered out toward the netted porch and pulled the sliding glass doors aside. 

The warm air felt like a slap to the face, Kylo hadn’t realized how cold Snoke’s house was until he was outside. His feet took him to the door out of the porch and he sat on the wide steps, beer bottle hanging precariously from lax fingers. 

The backyard was beautiful as the front and the path with the iron gate gave it a whimsical feel. The cobbled path lead away and Kylo’s bleary eyes tracked it before he took a drink and leaned his head against the banister he was sat next to. 

Suddenly the amulet flared against his chest and Kylo started, hands grasping harder at the bottle, and looked up. 

The red-haired man was there. Standing at the gate to the cemetery that was now open. He was close enough now to see details. His hair was actually more ginger than true red, somewhere between blond and crimson and he was pale, his back stiff. Kylo could see watery green-blue eyes, even from the porch. They were cold eyes, calculating and seemed brilliant despite their washed out hue. 

Kylo looked away, just for a second, his chest suddenly ached with the frigid feel and he closed his eyes in slight pain, then looked back to the man. 

He was just a foot away now. A foot away. His eyes still locked on Kylo like some sort of hunting dog, cold calculating and entirely inhuman. 

Kylo gasped, jumping back in relative horror and dropping his beer. The bottle didn’t break on the steps, it did splash Kylo and roll down two before a pale hand reached out and snatched it up. The man lifted the bottle and looked at it, gracefully rolling it between his hands as if he needed to decipher it. 

“How the fuck did you do that?” Kylo asked, his voice strained and hair falling into his eyes. The man looked up, eyebrow arched perfectly and contempt written across his face. 

“Do what? Surely, you don’t mean walk?” The man’s voice matched his face, imperious and smooth. 

“Walk…?” Kylo looked from the man to where the gate was, it was a good third acre. There was no way the man could walk that fast, no way in hell. Kylo didn’t even think someone could sprint to his spot without him noticing. 

“Yes, walk, you grasp the concept don’t you?” The man said, contempt not leaving his voice. 

“Yes,” Kylo snapped, his temper flaring as he stood, the steps allowing him to tower over the man, “Do you need something or are you trespassing on my Uncle’s property for no reason?”

The man’s expression changed to one of surprise and he looked passed Kylo toward the house. 

“You’re Kylo?” He asked and Kylo felt annoyed at the way his voice made it apparent he had expected someone different.

“Yes, now who are you?”

“Hux, an acquaintance of Mr. Snoke.”

Kylo’s head tilted and he blinked, examining the man better now that he was up close. Hux looked to be no older than 23, with one of the fairest complexions he’d ever seen besides Snoke and cheeks that seemed hollow. His eyelashes were a fair gold and everything about him made him look ethereally handsome, though his personality left something to be desired.  

“Snoke’s in his office,” Kylo said stepping aside and motioning. He realized he probably shouldn’t let strangers into the house but this man had the same aura as Snoke. The same easy motions and the easy tone of voice. The type of men who could talk someone into jumping off a bridge and make the person think they wanted to. Kylo shook his head and leveled a glare at the man who was still looking at him with eyes that reflected the afternoon light.

Hux scoffed, breezing past before pushing the now empty bottle into Kylo’s chest. 

“So testy for such a  _ pretty  _ boy,” his voice was mocking and in seconds he was gone, leaving behind only the smell of smoke and peppermint. 

Kylo blinked, and an annoyed snarl graced his features as he realized the man was as insulting as he was beautiful.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol yeh Hux is awful, the story will be more centered on the two gay assholes now, yay! Also there r probably grammar and spelling errors b/c I'm bad at that kinda stuff so if you see one just hmu and i'll fix it!


	3. Little Rabbit

Snoke left early in the morning three days after Kylo arrived. A dark taxi came to take him from the house, though Kylo had offered to drive. It wasn’t like a normal taxi service either. Nothing in the town was quite normal. The windows were tinted dark and the only sign of life was the smoke drifting from a cracked window. Snoke smiled out at the car and the lights flashed twice before it returned to is taciturn stillness. Kylo had carried his bags to the vehicle, which automatically popped its trunk, and shaken his hand all the while looking at the ominous taxi before them. 

“You will be great if you follow the directions I have left you,” Snoke said, leaning in close to the young man. 

“Yes Uncle,” Kylo said, his head lowered. 

“Remember, Hux will come and go as he pleases and do not hesitate to ask him to help you. Do not go out at night, there are reasons for the locks on the doors. You are the master of this town. My blood. My knight. Do not let your ambitions stray while I am gone.”

“Of course,” Kylo breathed, his hand still engulfed by a scarred one. 

With the advice left, Snoke pulled away, and slid into the taxi in a swirl of grey cigarette smoke, the dark door closing behind him. 

Kylo watched the car leave and he was left with a sense of confusion. It bit at the heels of his mind as he walked back into the house. 

The books left for him sat out in the middle table and he let his hand drift to pick one up. Snoke had simply pushed these tomes upon him and Kylo didn’t know what to do with himself.

Each book so far had been full of gruesome diagrams, broken english mixed with other languages and spells so dark Kylo had trouble fathoming why people had created them. At the same time there was a black presence within him, something that swirled and curled around his ribs. The feeling that no matter how bloody it was still beautiful. A deep sense of belonging juxtaposed with righteous guilt. He wanted to see where the path Snoke laid out for him would take him. But the sick sense of want was laced through the guilt and entwined around the bloody pictures before him. It capture his imagination and his eyes. He wanted this. He wanted this more than he could say and yet something held him back. Pulled on his consciousness and left him at odds with two halves of his desires. 

Kylo walked through the hall toward one of the older, quieter living rooms. The house seemed oppressive without Snoke’s presence to press up on the dark that shrouded the halls and rooms. It seemed hostile. The whole air was almost evaluating and strange shadows flitted at the edges of the young mans view, gone when he turned his head to look. His eyes lingered on old paintings of men and women with strange tattoos across their faces before he turned away and walked toward the warmest part of the room.

Kylo tipped himself back on a couch and opened to the dog eared page he had left, smoothing the heavy paper. The edges were so soft with wear that the crease didn’t stay long enough to be noticeable. His eyes drifted over a potion that would possesses the user and he snorted. It was all so insane, so arcane. With Snoke it seemed plausible, it seemed real. The swirling desires tangible. With every breath that self assuredness leeched away. Now, here, alone he felt silly. A child playing at fake magic and with wands. 

“Stupid,” He muttered. 

“Ironic, coming from you,” A voice said next to his ear. Kylo jumped, his whole body twisting to come face to face with Hux. The man looked deathly, and his eyes were unblinking, pupils engulfing the cold hued iris. 

The man himself was dressed impeccably in dark slacks and a silk shirt rolled at the elbows. He had perched himself on the arm of the couch Kylo had tossed himself on. Once again Kylo could only wonder how he had not noticed him. 

“Do you make a habit of scaring people?” Kylo hissed, his brows knotted down in a wrathful glare. 

“Only those who are oblivious to presences such as mine. You should have felt me long before I was next to you,” Hux said, his eyes flashing to the cruciform pendent strung around his neck. Kylo brought a hand to it and found it was icy to the touch. 

“I…” Kylo trailed off, he was out of his depth and as much as he hated the man on sight he couldn’t argue with the simple fact that he was at a disadvantage. 

“Were you sad to see Snoke leave?” Hux asked, sliding closer, his eyes dancing with some weird humor, “You seemed bereft, like a lost _puppy._ ” The last words were biting. The jest was lost in the derisive curl of the man’s lip and the utter distain in his eyes. 

“I’m no dog,” Kylo snapped, leaning forward. Hux looked at him before reaching out a hand and cupping his cheek. 

His fingers felt dead. 

Kylo’s body froze. Everything about this felt unholy. When he was in ninth grade he had dissected a pig, its cold flesh, the rubbery texture, reminded him of Hux’s hands. 

It was not so much the temperature, as Snoke’s hands were always chilled as well, it was the feeling behind the skin. There was nothing there. No life, no _human_ warmth. It was like touching a corpse or a statue. 

“A dog you may not be, but you certainly are a child and children need to be taught.” Hux’s voice had dropped a few decibels and Kylo looked up, locking eyes. 

All at once the feeling was broken and Hux was simply an annoying man once more. Kylo’s hands shook for a brief second as the ginger let his face go.

“Come, I’ll make breakfast.” The man ordered and stood, graceful as ever, striding from the room. Kylo scrambled up, following him with heavier steps, in a perpetual state of unbalance. 

The man had disappeared again and Kylo only saw him when he got to the kitchen, swinging himself around the door frame in his hurry. 

Hux had laid out the needed breakfast products and was already greasing a pan. It was like time skipped around the man. Like everything bent and broke to his will and Kylo felt a sinking sensation that he was no exception to this rule. 

“Can you cook?” Hux asked and Kylo looked up sharply from the man’s hands, which were mesmerizing while completing even simple tasks. 

“I can.”

“Well, scramble the eggs while I make the bacon. No need for us to forego breakfast in the name of spite.”

Kylo nodded, looking around for a clip to hold back his hair. Hux raised an eyebrow and pulled a hair band off his wrist, which Kylo was sure hadn’t been there before, and expertly pulled Kylo’s hair back from his face. Hux twisted the excess hair into a bun at the crown of his head and with a flourish went back to cooking. Kylo then walked over to the sink and washed his hands before coming to stand next to Hux. 

The man sent him a sideways smirk, “I think the biggest surprise about you so far is that you washed your hands before handling food.”

“I think the biggest surprised about you is how much of an ass you can be in only a few minutes,” Kylo shot back, his eyes flashing as he cracked an egg too hard and had to throw it away. The next four were more successful, due to the fact Hux had seemingly proven his point and was quietly cooking the bacon without so much as a word. 

Kylo focused on his own dish, adding pepper and salt and placing it into a bowl before cutting some chives and dropping them in to mix. Hux finished the bacon around the same time as Kylo had pulled out the orange juice. The food was split onto two plates and Hux motioned for Kylo to sit across from him at the table. 

There was nothing but the clinking of silverware on plates for a few minutes before the silence was broken as Kylo took a drink of orange juice.

“So, you’re not a complete brute,” Hux observed and the brunette looked at him with derision. 

“You’re more pleasant when you don’t talk,” Kylo hissed, placing the juice down and leveling a glare at the man who only smirked.

“The same can be said for you, though your facial expressions also leave something to be desired.”

“At least I’m not a ginger,” Kylo shot back and Hux raised an eyebrow pointedly. 

“If we are going to be insulting I would have started with your disposition, not your face.”

“I’m sure you have a great reason for that,” Kylo snarled. 

“Oh, I do. Your temper needs work, reads much too easily as expressed emotion, but your face is another matter. If you could control the first you might even be charming.”

Kylo blinked down at his hands and then looked at Hux before staring back down at his plate. It was the most backhanded compliment he had ever received and the pettiness of it caused a flush to run across the height of his cheeks.  

“See, so expressive,” Hux smirked, then got up and went to wash his plate, “Snoke wants me to help you with the first orders on the list, simple potions and charms, so I’m here until we finish those. I will also be taking you to see the cemetery some time this week as you should know the area before you stumble around and get lost.”

“Can’t wait,” Kylo said, rolling his eyes and finishing his food before standing up and turning to the sink. The room was empty. 

“How the actual _fuck_ is he doing that!” 

 

* * *

 

Kylo found Hux in the study, resting his hip against a table and looking through a list Snoke had left for Kylo. 

“You’re slow,” Hux said, voice muffled by the fact he didn’t even turn around to acknowledge the man behind him. Kylo didn’t respond he just grunted and walked to the table, circling around the other side. 

“Have you ever made any of this before?” Hux asked, sending a quick look over the top of the list and Kylo shook his head, “No.”

“Then you’ll watch and repeat,” The man’s voice was commanding and Kylo’s hands twitched before he let them fall to the table. He pulled another mortar and pestle over and watched Hux. 

The mans hands were as pale as the rest of him and thin, graceful in every motion they made. Kylo watched, entranced, for a moment before breaking the silence. 

“Do you really believe in all of … _this…_ ”

“Be specific,” Hux hissed, his eyes flashing at the vague nature of Kylo’s question. 

“Witchcraft and spells and magic. I’ve seen some strange things but nothing I can’t explain.”

Hux froze and he looked up, his pale eyes once again flashing cold, “Seems impossible without someone constantly telling you it’s real doesn't it? Seems hard to believe when you don’t have a master pulling at your leash.”

“It was just a question,” Kylo snarled, temper flaring yet again in response to the man before him. 

“A stupid one, like you.”

“You’re becoming more of a nuisance by the minute.”

“At least I am not a failure by default,” Hux snapped back, motioning to the list of unmade potions. 

“You know _nothing!_ ” Kylo’s hand came down on the table and the glass across it shattered into dust. The bottles and jars all reduced to a fine twinkling powder that drifted to the table like snow. Kylo’s reaction was immediate, he yanked his hand back as if he had been burned and clutched it to his chest, eye’s wide and chest heaving. He shook his head before practically running from the room, slamming a door open on his way out and hearing his steps rattle the very frame of the house. Hux did not follow. 

 

* * *

 

The week continued in much the same fashion. Hux would randomly appear for dinner or lunch and make subtle and unsubtle jabs at Kylo and Kylo would react in his typical wrathful fashion. It was a miracle they even completed a single order given how much they were at each others throats. 

As it was, Kylo was now sitting on a table staring at Hux as he carefully dissected a rabbit. The man had brought the struggling creature in by it’s long ears before quickly snapping it’s neck much to Kylo’s horror. He had been sitting on the couch looking at his phone when he saw Hux come in. The snap of the rabbits neck at made his stomach turn.

“Why did you do that?” Kylo cried, rushing over. Hux looked at him, face blank, before handing the limp rodent over without ceremony into the younger mans proffered hands. Kylo cradled the dead creature in his arms, its fur was breathtakingly soft and it was still warm. 

“We need it for an order,” Hux explained, voice low as he hung up a large dark coat that had been draped over his shoulders.

“You can buy rabbit at the store there’s no need to kill one,” Kylo hissed, absently running his hand over the soft fur. Hux looked at him with a strange expression. 

“A rabbit still had to die for the meat you procure at a store, there’s no difference. You simply want to avoid the deed itself and reap the benefits. You won’t go far if you don’t get your hands bloody.”

“It was needless… is all,” Kylo tried to explain even as the dead creature’s warmth left it. 

“You’re ignorant of this life. When you kill something it becomes yours. We have ownership over our dead. The wild, the untamable. Lifeless eyes are worth so much more than a fluttering pulse. After we kill something, as small as a rabbit or as large as a human, we own everything they were and could have been. We own them so totally that we can keep them forever.”

Kylo’s eyes widened and he looked at the man in front of him. Hux was back lit by the southern sun, creating a halo effect around him. It turned ginger hair to burnished bronze and pale skin to illuminated white. The doctrine he espoused was cruel, callous, yet he looked like an angel. Like a god delivering the truth with steady eyes and sinful lips.

Kylo could only wonder what he looked like in comparison. Blocked out in Hux’s shadow and still too far into the dark of entrance that he was swathed in shade. A sickly, timid thing clutching a dead rabbit like a stuffed toy to his chest. A man with ill fitting features, hair too long and doe eyes that were wet with something that hadn’t become tears but the potential was there. 

Kylo thought back to the boys he had beaten in high school, back to the small squirrels and ants that his cousins had killed while he looked on. Wouldn’t it be heavy. Carrying the experiences, the worth, of the lives you take. Wouldn’t it be exhausting.

“It’s not always bloody either,” Hux continued, his voice cutting through the air, “it is an ownership that transcends physical self. Many people are dead and still walking, speaking, living. We kill them and keep them. They live in our homes, they live on our streets, they live in the apartment upstairs. The ones we murdered,with a hatchet or a fist or a phrase or a grin. We always have ownership over our dead and sometimes the easiest way to kill someone is with ideas, words, and manipulation not a broken neck.”

Hux had drawn closer and was now almost nose to nose with Kylo, his breath cold across twitching lips, “So, little rabbit, tell me, do you know who owns you?”

The air was still as Kylo’s wide eyes stared down at the broken animal in his arms and then it was gone. Hux took the creature in one hand and walked toward the study, leaving Kylo to lean against a wall in abject horror. He didn’t want this as much as he wanted it. This conflict inside him had left him broken and he realized that even as he had protested the death of the rabbit he had still taken it. He had still stroked it as it chilled in his arms. He was still entranced by the words slipping from a madman’s lips. As much as he protested his nature it was there and in that self awareness came another awareness. Hux’s question had not been rhetorical, and it left Kylo wondering who actually owned him. Who’s rabbit was he and was his neck about to be snapped. 

He ended up curled around himself watching Hux pull the thing apart and separate the pieces, salting and storing some in jars. He had first drained the creature of its blood, keeping that in a glass case he put to the side. 

“For this order we only need the liver and right foot,” Hux explained and proceeded to pushed over the pieces on a flat black circular cutting board. Kylo took it and carefully dropped the pieces in the pot next to him, watching them get eaten away in the black sludge that was bubbling next to him.

“Have you ever killed anyone before,” Kylo blurted out. 

“Excuse me?” Hux asked, eyes flashing up and eyebrows rising to near his hairline.

“I- I mean, it’s only logical! You said that you take everything something was and I can only imagine you’d do that because it instills power, and humans, well, they live longer and fuller than most animals so…”

Hux leaned back, eyes dark suddenly and lips slightly parted, “You surprise me. Overtime, I think you’ll develop no further in my eyes then you do. You’re not an idiot, you’re just young. It makes you heartbreakingly easy to read, easy to snap and bend. You’re so human now, and I can only think that it’s a shame for what you’ll lose and a blessing for what you will gain.”

Kylo couldn’t make sense of what Hux was saying but a icy feeling crept into his chest as he realized that Hux had purposefully avoided the question. 

 

* * *

 

It was a theme now, strange happenings. It was like the house suddenly realized he was not Snoke and was testing him. As strange as that sounded it’s how the young man perceived it. Disturbing things stalked his waking hours and it began to wear on him. In one instance, Kylo got up in the night only to see something perched on the balcony staring in at him. He had blinked and the shadowy figure was gone but a few seconds later was met with the window in the hallway being rattled. Footsteps dogged his sleep and he would open up his bedroom door only to see something run down the stairs, just out of actual view. The pictures on the walls would move, people facing opposite of where they had originally been and frames switched around. 

Kylo could only believe it was a punishment for the weakness he had shown Hux. His pathetic feelings for the rabbit, for the life around him. His fear was punishment. 

Though they had seemed contained to outside his room it wasn’t long until he awoke with someone standing at the foot of his bed. The necklace burned at this throat and he lashed out with a hand. The glass in the room rattled and the figure melted back into the shadows but it was still there. Kylo’s breath came fast and he flipped on a light. He saw nothing but flashed to look as the door to the room slammed shut after something vaguely human shaped ran out of it. 

He didn’t get much sleep after that, or the next night. On the third day Hux showed up for dinner and Kylo opened the door to his annoyingly handsome face. 

“What happened?” Hux asked, his brow drawing down as he shouldered in next to Kylo. The young man had bruises across his right cheek and shoulder from where something had tripped him when he was coming down the stairs. He also had a slight limp from a time he had drifted off in the study and something had sunken it’s teeth into the back of his leg from under the couch. 

“I fell,” Kylo said, his voice deeper, gruffer than he had ever heard it from lack of sleep and constantly half terror. 

“You haven’t taken care of it though.”

“It’s a bruise, it will go away eventually,” Kylo snapped, annoyed and Hux looked at him with a strange expression. 

“You are an _apprentice_ you don’t just leave bruises.”

“I don’t know what that means! Snoke didn’t tell me much besides stay inside after dark and to make friends with you, like I'm some kind of child.” Kylo’s voice rose and the light fixture above them began to swing in time with his voice and the mirror in the entrance way shook.     

“You’re exhausted and angry but _don’t_ presume to snap at me like that,” Hux snarled. 

Kylo’s head snapped up and he bared his teeth like an animal, “You’re a guest in this house and I will speak to you anyway I want! It’s high time you stop acting like a king because you are no better than me you pompous, supercilious, egotistical asshole. You’re angry you have to babysit me and I’m angry I have to be babysat but don’t you dare think I will sit by and let you be insulting for no reason, especially when I’ve only just come into this situation.”

Hux looked at him calmly before smiling. It was the brightest smile Kylo had ever seen, also one of the sharpest. The mans canines looked hyper extended but it was too fast to actually tell. 

“I never thought I’d see the resemblance but there it was,” Hux chuckles, walking past Kylo and picking up the groceries he brought. 

“Resemblance?” Kylo questioned, turning around only to be met with an empty space, “ _How does he do that?_ ”

As he rushed to catch up with the man he felt a tug on the edge of his sleeve. He didn't look down. He didn't want to. In the end he realized that he could pretend power all he wanted but in this house, next to the red-headed monster with a smile too bright, he was as broken as the rabbit that had been held, dying, in his arms. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, creepy things start happening. Just to clarify Kylo is only 19 in this and in TFA he was around 29/30 canonly, so rn he's coming into his power. He doesn't have the same fanatical belief as he would if he was, say, 24 or 30. Also, props to anyone who can guess what Hux really is bc lets be real here no ones under the impression he's normal anymore. As always, any grammar or spelling mistakes that rlly bother u just hmu and ill fix em pronto, editing is not my strong suit.


	4. Run Boy

After so many weeks dealing with an unwanted house guest Kylo was becoming stir crazy. He couldn’t breathe without feeling like Hux or a portrait or his own damn subconscious was going to say something about how he was doing everything all wrong.

Though, Hux had become more and more understanding of late, had stopped pushing him as far. He even became mildly endearing. Though he watched Kylo in a new way now and it made the poor boy's skin crawl just as much as it had before. He wanted some relaxation in his life, not this constant new form of scrutiny.

The creatures, the ghouls, that seemed to lurk in the house were also becoming more and more bold. He would begin to cook something only to turn around and find a knife dropped into it. Once he bit into a sandwich and found it laced with broken glass. It had taken three hours trying to remove it all and spitting excess blood into the sink. 

Hux was the only thing that seemed to scare them back into their dark recesses in the house and therefore, as loathed as Kylo was to do it, he began to gravitate toward the man. He would sit next to him and watch him make potions, or read an old book. He would follow him into the kitchen or study and stick to his heels. 

It was a strange-push pull of needing to be around the man and wanting him to leave the house forever. 

It was only after a few days he realized that Hux was staying longer and longer into the nights and arriving earlier. Kylo refused to believe it was anything besides own base self interest but just because he refused doesn’t mean he was right. He often caught Hux looking at him with a fond look, there were just as many aggravated ones, but the fond ones stuck out like a beacon. 

“You’re tired,” Hux said, looking at Kylo who had his head pillowed in his arms on one of the long tables in the study. 

“I’m fine,” Kylo replied, not wanting to give Hux a reason to leave and let the monsters come back into the room. Hux was leaning against the rim of the table, his dark button down rolled at the sleeves and opened at the collar. His hair was tousled after running his hand through it and he looked amused at the sleepy man to his right. 

“It’s rather late, I think I’ll avail myself of one of the guest bedrooms rather than walk home. If it’s all the same to you, of course?” Hux voice was low and Kylo looked up at him in confusion. Hux had often left later in the night than this, and it took a moment in the dark haired man’s sleep addled mind to register that the man was doing it because he had noticed something was wrong. 

“I’d…yes, that would be fine,” Kylo huffed out, his eyes straying toward Hux’s exposed collar bone. After he scraped past the man’s superiority and snark it was hard to take his eyes off him. His loathing had become a cover for a real feeling of admiration. Hux did everything, from making the orders to simply picking up a glass of water, with purpose. He was intelligent beyond belief and despite his unsettling nature he was charming. Kylo had often wondered how serial killers had so many people fooled and now he thought he knew, if they were anything like Hux.

“Excellent,” Hux murmured, standing and offering a hand to Kylo. He looked at it for a second and then took the proffered palm, cool as ever, and allowed the ginger to pull him to his feet. Kylo swayed, drained from lack of sleep and motioned to the stairs, “I think there’s a spare room set up next to mine.”

“And here I thought I wouldn’t be sleeping alone,” Hux chuckled and Kylo blinked slowly before he registered the innuendo. The blush that overtook his face was obvious, he was sure because Hux’s smile only grew as he reached out and chuffed him under the chin, “So easy to read, so expressive.”

“Be quiet,” Kylo snapped, pushing the man's hand away and glaring daggers before brushing past him up the stairs. 

 

* * *

 

There were hands grasping at Kylo. One at his wrist, another at his hair, his ear, the small of his back. He twisted, eyes flying open, hoping to dispel the awful dream that had overtaken him. The room was pitch black and his eyes couldn’t adjust to the darkness fast enough. His heart stuttered in his chest for a few seconds when he realized that, despite being awake, the feeling of the hands grasping him was still there.

Kylo let out a yell, thrashing and kicking out, twisting his upper body. He must still be dreaming, though it felt all too real. 

“Shush, be still,” Came a voice next to him and a cold hand fell against his cheek. 

Hux. 

Kylo relaxed and felt the hands slip away, leaving nothing but the feeling of Hux’s palm against his warm cheek. 

“You allow them in with your restless mind. It burns, it burns so bright they can’t help but want to snuff it out. Even if they were not looking for it, they’d still haunt you. Everything you are is a fair contradiction of this world. Snoke will take it from you, already has started. He will take that light like he took my freedom. He can’t see as I can. He doesn't realize you could be so much more.”

“More…” Kylo rasped, his head turning into the palm, it was cold and uncomplicated, like a benediction. 

The whole half reality clung to Kylo and the situation felt like a fever dream. He was too hot, too confused. Had he even woken up? Or was this entire conversation an extension of the hands reaching out to drag him under the covers. To pull him down like sirens pull sailors from ships. He couldn’t tell anymore and the only thing that seemed to ground him was the cool hand pressed to his cheek. 

“Yes. You could use that fire to start empires, to be Prometheus. Instead, he cloaks you inside this dying house, with an amulet to remove your light. He’s afraid you are weak, afraid your blood is just as much good as it is evil,” He whispered, and though Kylo couldn’t see through the dark he had come to know the man well enough to hear the sad smile in his voice.

“I have too much light in me, I will fail him.” Kylo didn’t know where the words came from but it was hard to stomach their meaning.  It was true. Though he had read all the books, invested time in all the orders, researched his grandfather and thrown himself wholeheartedly into becoming something that his mother would fear and Snoke would praise, he could not. There was the intrinsic nature in him that consumed him from the inside out, for every cruel, twisted tendency he discovered there was an action of goodwill, or kindness to overshadow it. 

“Light… Dark, so polarized,” Hux’s thumb trailed lightly over the highest point of Kylo’s cheek bone as he continued, “You define yourself by such rigid terms. Square peg, round hole, how much will you lose trying to be something you’re not. Snoke is afraid of a beast he cannot control. You only know him as an Uncle, not a sorcerer. He works in the dark and if you are like him, a creature bound in the shadows, he can twist you into whatever shape he wants. The light in you is what he cannot touch. What makes you powerful.”

“I am weak,” Kylo murmured, rebutting everything with a stubbornness born from mistrust, and the palm slide away. 

“You are weak because you’re killing a part of yourself. Striving so far forward but only looking back, soon you’ll fall from a cliff you don’t even know is there. There is so much more you can do besides make orders and break glass… and if you continue like this you’ll be a corpse before you find out what.”

“What do you want of me?” Kylo asked, voice breaking.  There was a truth to this awful fever dream. It was unshakable. He knew that Snoke wanted him to change, he had believed it was for the better, but now, he didn’t know. He just didn’t know, he didn’t know anything anymore. 

“For you to sleep.” 

The order was shrouded in something and Kylo felt his eyes drifting closed again. He fell back asleep with the feeling of a cold palm fading fast on his cheek.

 

* * *

 

Kylo decided he would go into town. It was needed, after all, because they were running low on groceries and some cleaning supplies. It was a perfect excuse. 

He could escape the monsters that plagued his waking hours and escape the doubts that dogged his dreams. He still didn’t know if the conversation with Hux was real or imagined and looking at the man in the morning had stolen any courage that would have allowed him to ask. 

With this in mind Kylo threw on some dark jeans and a black long sleeved shirt before walking down the stairs and grabbing his keys. His footfalls were heavy on the carpet on the way out and he paused at the door to check he had his phone. 

“Leaving?” Hux’s voice, soft and melodic with that strange accent flavoring the tips washed over him and he wanted to groan. He had hoped to avoid him, but turned to look at the man.

“I need things for the house,” Kylo said through slightly gritted teeth. Hux leaned his hip, as he was want to do, against the doorframe to the living room while giving Kylo an appeasing look. The man was softer today, with his hair still brushed back but without any real product. A deep colored shirt with floral patterns brought out color in his cheeks and eyes, color Kylo genuinely thought the man didn’t possess.  

“Perhaps get yourself something sweet or something that you like, you’ve worked hard and look tired,” Hux suggested and Kylo blinked in surprise. 

“Finally worrying about my mental wellbeing?” 

“What mental wellbeing, you’re already insane.” Hux’s wit was as sharp as ever but after days upon days of hearing it the words had lost a lot of their edge. The man’s hard eyes now conveyed a sense of warmth and the twitch of his lip suggested amusement. 

“You’re not wrong.”

 

* * *

 

 

 

Kylo’s trip into the town was unusual. He pulled up to the outskirts just as the hot Georgia sun reached its peak and hopped out of his beaten oldie. The town was like something out of a postcard, with old stone buildings and a bustling center where families ate lunches under the shade of large sun umbrellas and tourists shopped for gifts. 

He quickly checked the map on his phone and strode across the street, not catching anyone's eyes. He felt a deep sense of unease and as much as he wanted to get out of Snoke’s mansion and clear his head of Hux’s presence he now regretted coming on his own. The stifling air did nothing to ease his nerves and only made his hands shake like they had done before coming here. The atmosphere reminded him of the family trips he had taken as a child. As Ben. And he could only hate himself more for being effected by it.

He ducked into the grocery store and sighed at the relief the air conditioning provided. 

The aisles were neatly organized and he had no trouble finding everything he needed for the coming weeks. Hux had also wrote down some strange ingredients when he wasn’t looking but they could all also be found without much struggle. 

Kylo ran a hand through his hair, basket draped in the crook of his arm as he let his mind wander. That morning Hux’s hair had fallen around his ears when he twisted his head to ask after him. It had shone like copper in the frail light and Kylo had the strange, sudden want to touch it. To touch him. 

He had known the man for months and yet he couldn’t pin-point when animosity had turned into reluctant admiration. God knew he hated the man at first, went out of his way to bicker and provide nothing but a struggle. Somewhere, all the real fight had gone out of him, the biting words were to cover a feeling that grew strangely hobbled in his chest. 

And so, he wanted to touch, to pull, to run fingers through hair and make lips bleed from teeth. 

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t notice the pendent get frigid until it was half burning into his chest. He yelped and yanked the thing from against his skin, looking at it in annoyance before turning and walking to the register rather stiffly. 

“How ya doin’ sir,” Said an elderly man as Kylo put his things on the conveyer belt. 

“Mhhh,” Kylo made a noncommittal noise and looked away, pendent still like ice even when resting above his shirt. 

“Haven’t seen ya around here though, where about you from?” The man's chatter distracted Kylo momentarily and he turned to the man. 

“I’m taking care of my Uncles house, it’s two streets away from Coruscant Road, on the old dirt trail.”

“Ah, you’re Mr. Snoke’s nephew! Real proper man there, by God shoulda been a king with how regal he is.”

There was a clatter as someone dropped a box behind Kylo. He turned to see a man staring at him, eyes wide. He was wearing a ratty bomber jacket and a stupid look across his face and there was something about him that rubbed Kylo all the wrong ways. 

“Finn! Be more careful!” The clerk called and Finn, the admonished man, ducked his head and quickly picked up the box before practically running away. Kylo’s dark eyes followed him and he slowly turned back to the clerk to hand over the money. 

“Damn kid, hard working but not like the others here. Finn’s always been different,” The clerk muttered and Kylo’s eyes went half lidded. The feeling surrounding the man was different, lighter somehow, and he couldn’t help but want to snuff it out or maybe examine it. Pity he had left so fast, a conversation would have been nice. 

“Thank you,” Kylo said, taking the bags and turning on his heel, pendent glinting in the light.

 

* * *

 

Kylo jumped when he heard someone scream outside. It had woken him from a deep, dreamless sleep and he started at the clock to see it was almost five in the morning, an hour or so before the sun rose. He had been pouring over a book when the rustling had originally started but he had assumed it was an animal. The very human screams that had woken him after he had fallen asleep over his book had proved his assumption wrong. His first thought was to call the police but as he went for the phone, still groggy and off kilter, he realized he had no idea who lived around them. It could be kids playing a prank, it could be a crazy neighbor. Calling the police, especially when he didn’t know what was going on, seemed extreme. He then thought to Hux and decided he was the better option. 

“Shit,” Kylo hissed as he realized he never asked Hux for his number. The man seemed to be out of his time, like someone from the 20’s transplanted into today's world; Kylo hadn’t thought to ask for his number because it seemed like a dumb question. 

With that Kylo ran from the room, throwing his phone in his pocket and grabbing the flashlight he left on the back entrance way table. He realized he didn’t have shoes and considered going upstairs to get some when another pained howl erupted from the night. With swears decorating his lips he slammed open the porch door and then the screen one. 

Barefoot and breathing heavily he stumbled into the night and flicked on the flashlight, it’s yellow beam cutting a swathe of light across the grass and walkway. 

“Hello! Is someone hurt?” Kylo called, his voice booming out across the backyard. He was met with only silence and the harsh chirping of bugs in the night. 

“Hello! Is someone out here!” His voice rose and then his brows drew down. If this was a prank the person responsible would end up wishing they were actually hurt. 

The silence he got in response was answer enough and he shook his head, turning to walk back to the porch. 

A scream rent the night, sending Kylo turning and breaking into a dead sprint to follow the source. He hit the path and winced at the feeling of the cold stone on his feet but shook it off. He managed to get to the cemetery gate and crossed the threshold. 

There was a jolt, akin to a slight electric shock, as Kylo’s foot fell on the hallowed ground. The flashlight beam illuminated a hellscape of graves knocked slightly off center and disturbed ground. The graveyard looked like something had torn through it with no care for the dead buried beneath. He walked further in, heart pounding and shone his flashlight ahead. 

A dark crypt sat against the forest line and Kylo blinked at it. He had never noticed it during the day, had never even seen its shadow. And yet, there the monument stood. The flashlight caught on the strange edges of it and illuminated the rough stone from which it was made. Ivy had creeped up the sides and over the top and it looked, for all intents and purposes, that this crypt was being pulled back into the forest. 

Kylo felt drawn to it. He had stopped questioning why some things around the estate called to him but they did. He moved forward, careful of the overturned graves and came to stand before the tomb. The closer he was the better he could see the carvings, a strange language lined the curves and dips. Kylo reached out a hand and placed it on the facade running his fingers down until they hit a strange groove. The centerpiece, what looked to be a long line cut into the granite, was missing. Drawing back Kylo could see that there had been something, recently too, that had been pulled out of the stone.

He leaned closer for a better look and stopped when he heard something. The tomb’s door, located at the back of the monument, was opening. The crunch of granite on stone rolled over Kylo and turned his blood to ice. 

“Look you sick son of a bitch if you’re going to vandalize a graveyard don’t stick around to scare the person who’s the caretaker,” Kylo yelled, walking around the side and shining the light on the now marginally cracked door. 

Blackened fingers, longer than a humans by a good inch or two, were curled around the doors edge. From the crack that the flashlight illuminated Kylo could make out a half clouded visage of something staring at him as it slowly pushed open the door. 

Kylo bolted. He turned and beat a quick path back to the house with the grating sound of something pushing aside the stone door ever in his mind. He rushed through the gate only to hear a solid thump as the door to the crypt was pushed fully open. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Kylo hissed, leaping up the steps to the house and grabbing the door to yank it open. It didn’t budge. He rattled it and still, as though to spite him, it was stuck firmly in place. He had left it open he knew he had and the lights, which had been on when he left, were now off. 

Had someone gotten into the house while he was away? He was sure he would have heard or seen someone. He beat on the door, quickly looking over his shoulder to see a dark shape moving through the cemetery. 

He turned back to the glass and yelled in horror. One of the ghouls that had plagued the house and his dreams was pressed against the glass. It’s features not delineated now that Kylo’s flashlight had dropped from boneless fingers but he could see a mouth that was strangely joined and hands pressed at the glass. 

The creature had locked him from the house, probably to allow its unholy brother to do what it would with him as it crawled from its hole in the ground. 

Kylo’s face contorted in fear and rage,  he swooped down to grab the flashlight before turning and leaping down the steps. He could see the creature at the gate now and he pushed himself to sprint faster. The muggy air seemed to grab at his face and clothes and the moisture threatened rain. He broke for the tree line, the only place he imagined he could be escape the strange creatures. He also realized that the trees backed up against the road so if he hit that he may be able to flag someone down. It was a long shot but anything was better than waiting for that thing. 

His feet ached as he weaved between the first trees but he wouldn’t stop for them. Pain was something he couldn’t afford, couldn’t pay any heed to. Branches cut his cheeks and exposed neck as he pushed forward. He was careful to weave only a few feet right or left and he dimmed his flashlight considerably. 

It had been a few minutes when he stopped to catch his breath and listen. There was nothing to be heard. No crickets, no night birds, no unnatural footsteps following him. He almost sighed in relief when he heard the branches rustling. He stopped then, and waited a few seconds more. There was no wind. 

The air was dead still, so how were the tree branches moving. 

Kylo flashed his light up and saw mutilated version of a human face staring down at him, weirdly jointed body wrapped around a branch a few feet from his head. 

His fear was palpable as a raindrop fell and hit his cheek, sliding down in a mockery of a tear and the creature leaned closer to him. It looked ready to jump. 

He watched its form shift before it sprang forward and Kylo dove to the side hitting his shoulder on the hard trunk of a tree and feeling two of his fingers crack as he fell. With no thought he shoved himself up, scrambling on the bed of leaves that was becoming slicker with every drop of rain. The monster screamed behind him, a very human, very memorable sound, and Kylo could only push his legs harder to be rid of its visage. 

He was almost out of reach when one of it’s long boned hands found his ankle and yanked him back to the ground. The grip was like a vice and he howled in frustration more than pain. Everything focused into a single point and Kylo twisted and flung a hand out. 

Power seemed to seep into his flesh, and crawl into his head. For a second, just a moment in time, everything was perfectly clear. Then the power left, a wave against rocks. 

The creature was thrown into the air like a ragdoll, smashing into a tree and falling with a heavy thwack. Kylo clutched his hand to his chest before turning and throwing himself to his feet, ankle aching but unheeded as he continued his mad dash away from whatever that thing had been. 

It was pouring now, and Kylo had lost his flashlight, though he could see as the dim morning light started to infuse the forest. His hair hung in dripping strands around his face and he stumbled every so often. He had become so turned around he had no idea if he was going toward the road or not. 

It came as a relief when he stumbled onto the dirt road that was on his uncle’s property. The muddy surface provided some balm to his bleeding feet and the main road was only a few yards around the bend. His eyes drooped in exhaustion and he looked at his feet, red seeping into the mud. 

“Kylo?” Came a voice and Kylo drew his eyes from his feet to see Hux standing in the road. He was impeccable as always and a dark umbrella shielded him from the rain that sparkled now in the pale light. 

“Hux,” Kylo croaked trying to step forward but feeling his ankle give out finally and he awkwardly hit the ground. Half kneeling, half collapsed. His eyes closed in weary defeat and only opened when a warm coat was draped over his shoulders. 

Hux had put his umbrella to the side and was on his knees next to Kylo, face pinched in annoyance, most likely at the fact his clothes were getting ruined. But under that annoyance was… concern. 

“Can you walk?” Hux asked, brilliant hair becoming darker in the rain and Kylo nodded. Hux lifted Kylo’s arm and slung it around his shoulder pulling him up and balancing Kylo’s greater weight. 

“They locked me out of the house,” Kylo slurred, sending a look at Hux. The man stiffened and the imperious look was back in his face. 

“Well, I have a key and they’ll rue the day they ever try to lock me out.”

Kylo chuckled before it broke off into a pained groan. His head lolled onto Hux’s shoulder, “You don’t seem like someone who could be locked out…”

Hux helped Kylo along and shot him a look, cold eyes impenetrable, “Why’s that?”

“You have more in common with them than you do with me.”

Kylo’s declaration was met with silence as Hux straighten, walking them toward the house, umbrella forgotten in the mud and key in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao this became more creepy than I expected and yeah sorry. Anyway, I feel bad for what I'm putting Kylo through but its worth it I swear. As always if you see any problems hmu and I'll fix em.


End file.
